A Deadly Stroll
by NarutoJournal
Summary: Hinata follows Neji out into the woods, and they're met with a surprise attack that could turn out to be deadly. Is this enough to change Neji's attitude towards her? R&R please! :


"I'm not a kid anymore!" Naruto slammed his fist on the desk. "You can't keep treating me like this!"

"I'll stop treating you like a kid when you stop acting like one." Sakura rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

Hinata jumped when Kiba touched her shoulder. She blushed, turning around.

"Hinata you okay?" Kiba looked around the door frame. "Oh." He sighed inwardly. It was Naruto again.

"Oh… Yeah. Sorry!" She rushed past him and went outside.

Kiba watched her leave, wishing she'd get over Naruto already.

"Watch where you're going." Neji snapped as Hinata stepped out of the way.

"Sorry!" She gasped, gliding on by.

He grunted quietly. "It was my fault." But she'd already gone.

Hinata sat down in the park, surrounded by beautiful cherry blossoms and their sweet smell. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

She was so sick of being ignored. Ignored by Naruto, by Neji, by her Father. Her only true friend was Kiba. The thing was- Naruto ignored her in a different way. He was busy saving the village. Busy turning bad people into good ones. Busy giving hope. Neji and her Father purposely ignored her. Tried to make her feel like nothing. The sad part was it worked. She felt insignificant. Alone. Useless. She stood up, frustration flowing through her veins. She focused all of her chakra to her fist, and punched the nearest tree as hard as she could. Petals came down in a flurry, and the trunk had her fist imprinted into it. Her knuckles were bleeding but she didn't care. It felt good to let her anger out.

"Hinata are you okay?" Naruto frightened her. He walked toward her, his footsteps echoing off the cement.

"I'm fine…" She mumbled, blood rushing to her face.

"Your face is always so red!" He stepped closer, putting his hand on her forehead. "Do you have a fever?" He bent down so that his face was directly in front of hers.

Her eyes widened, and she blushed harder.

"I think you do. I'm sure some ramen will help you feel good as new in no time! Let's go it's on me!" He smiled wide, his eyes shutting.

Her stomach felt like it was crawling. "Um… I don't know if I should-"

"Great let's go!" Naruto grabbed her wrist and marched off toward Ichirahu's Ramen Shop.

"Huh? What's this?" Naruto lifted her hand up, staring at the blood on her knuckles. It'd dripped all the way down her fingers. Apparently it'd bled more than she thought it had.

"Oh…um…it's nothing!" Hinata pulled her hand away, guarding it.

"It didn't look like nothing!" Naruto exclaimed. "Hmm…" He leaned down, staring into her eyes. "Is something going on with you? You know you can talk to me about whatever."

This was her chance. She could tell him all about how bad she hurt, how much she liked him. She could possibly even tell him she loved him… They could eat ramen together and he'd make her laugh. Maybe at the end of the night he'd even consider it a date and… kiss her! She went crazy at the thought of Naruto kissing her.

"No, nothing's wrong." She chose the easy way out.

"Hinata." Naruto's eyes shone, reflecting the lights hung up around them. Teuchi slid the ramen bowls in front of them. Naruto didn't even look their way. He put his hand on Hinata's upper arm.

She looked away from him. "I mean it."

"Well if you ever wanna talk, I'm here." He gave her one last glance before turning to his ramen and slurping down the whole bowl.

"Thank you, Naruto." She stood up and by the time he looked she was gone.

Hinata slowly got into her bed, looking at the stars through her window. She sighed, reminded that she didn't close the curtains. She stood back up and walked, grabbing the curtains. Just as she was about to close them she heard the door shut, and saw Neji walking from the porch. She grabbed a sweater from the hook hanging by her bedroom door, slid her feet into some sandals, and quietly headed out to follow him. She knew it was wrong but she had to know what he was up to. She knew that night would have been a restless one, anyway.

"What are you doing here?" Neji spoke sharply, turning on his heel and throwing a kunai. It stuck into a tree directly adjacent to Hinata's face.

She gasped, turning to leave. "I'm sorry Neji I-"

He spun her around and slammed her against the tree, getting in her face.

She tried to move but his hands were pressed too tightly against her. The one on her shoulder made her muscles ache.

"You shouldn't have followed me here. We're in danger. It's too late to leave." He spoke quickly, glancing around. "Now you'll be a liability."

She flushed.

They both turned their heads when they heard a crack, activating their Byakugan in unison.

"Neji…"

"I know." Neji stated. "The amount of chakra emitting from his body is unreal."

Hinata nodded, fearing the worst.

"We have to fight. It's two against one, even with all of that chakra it still shouldn't be a problem."

Hinata thought that Neji may be going into this battle a bit too confident. Her suspicions were confirmed when Neji took a kunai to the back. She gasped, pulling it out for him before he even realized it was there. Plenty more came and she hit them all away.

"Show yourself!" Hinata yelled; her voice somehow still soft.

All she got was a dark cackle back. It seemed that this man was everywhere. When she used her Byakugan, she saw chakra everywhere. They fought longer and longer, but it seemed as if their opponent wasn't half as worn out as they were. It was gonna be a long night.

"Neji, I'm sorry if me following you out here put you in this situation…" Hinata frowned. Their backs were together, and they were facing opposite directions.

"It's not your fault. I would have been caught with or without you." He shrugged it off like it was nothing, when Hinata knew they were both going to die there.

She didn't know how she felt about dying with Neji. He'd always had it out for her, no matter how kind she was to him. She was always looking for his approval and he never gave it. She just wanted him to accept her.

"Hinata look out!" Neji yelled. Her being distracted had cost her. But as soon as he called out for her, he was on his knees protecting her. Blood was trailing down from his mouth and his eyes looked… sad. She felt her knee get wet and when she looked down she saw blood.

"Neji." She glanced over his shoulder to find what had to be at least six kunai stuck into his back. Rain started to drizzle down, rinsing some of the blood from Neji's face. Hinata's mouth hung open, tears filling her eyes.

"No time for crying." Neji whispered. "I need to tell you something quickly." He wiped the tears from her face.

"What is it?" Hinata's hands were on his chest now, his on her shoulders.

"I love you."

"But-"

"Be quiet." She nodded, giving him the go ahead. "I'm sorry. For everything. I took everything out on you. It was wrong. But it was the only way I could refrain from telling you how I really felt. Now, though, looking at you I can see that telling you how I felt is exactly what I should have done. You would have accepted it, and me, feelings returned or not. I don't just want to be with you because it would be good for our clan. I don't care about any of that. I just wanted you to know all of this before it's too late to tell you. You're strong; I know you can get out of here alive. Don't worry about me; take care of yourself." He coughed up more blood, and Hinata wiped it away with her sleeve.

"Neji…" Tears poured over her eyes, trailing down her cheeks once again. Neji was leaning over her, protectively still. He stared into her eyes, then glanced down to her lips and back up again. When there was no doubt in his mind that she knew what he wanted to do, he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. It was the softest kiss he'd ever experienced; and by far the best. If he had to die now, he was okay with that because at least he'd die happy. She pulled away, staring at him wide-eyed.

He gave her one last kiss on the forehead before collapsing onto her. She carefully moved him off before wiping her eyes as she stood up on trembling legs.

Neji… He was gone. She had to avenge his death, whether she would get out alive or not.

She stood in her usual battle stance, ready for anything. Her breath was rigid with anger. It took her a moment to realize that she was alone. The enemy had gone. She fell to her knees, clutching Neji's body, the rain flooding the tears off of her face.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.


End file.
